Agricultural combines comprise a variety of apparatus and systems for receiving and processing crops. In particular, a combine will include a header operable for severing crops and other plant material from root structure and conveying the severed crop and plant material to a feeder of the combine. The feeder will typically include an enclosed feeder housing containing a conveyor mechanism, which conveying mechanism will typically include parallel chains connected by slats, which chains encircle sprockets which are driven by a feeder drive to move the chains and slats upwardly and rearwardly along a floor of the housing, for inducting and conveying the crop and plant material, as well as debris that may be contained therein, into an inlet region of a threshing system of the combine. The threshing system, in turn, will typically include at least one rotor rotatable within a cavity or space defined at least partially by a concave structure having an array or arrays of openings therein sized for passage of grain therethrough. The rotor will include elements for inducting the crop and other material into the cavity and conveying the material through a crop separation clearance between the outer region of the rotor and the inner region of the concave, for separating grain and other small elements of the crop material from larger elements thereof, typically including leaves, stalks, cobs, husks and the like, depending on the crop being harvested. The separated grain is then expected to pass through the openings of the concave for further processing.
From time to time during operation of an agricultural combine, a slug, that is, an incorrectly processed and/or compacted mass of crop material and/or weeds, particularly stringy or viny weeds, debris, or other material, may be inducted into the feeder and/or threshing system and become lodged or packed or jammed, to possibly interrupt throughput of crop material through the combine, and/or damage to components of the feeder and/or threshing system, thus necessitating removal of the slug. Removal of the slug can entail backing it away from the location within the feeder and/or threshing system at which it became lodged, sufficiently so as to break it up or better process or compact it for passage through the feeder and/or threshing system.
Once a slug has developed in the feeder or threshing system of a combine, a number of different actions depending on, the combine status, the type, severity and location of the slug, may be necessary to effect removal of the slug. For instance, in what can be deemed a simple case, it may be sufficient to repeatedly jog the rotor through small angular movements, until the resulting low impulsive loads breakdown the slug and free it. In a more extreme example, it may be necessary to more violently rock the rotor back and forth in an agitating motion, at different amplitudes and different frequencies, occasionally with an asymmetric motion and relatively large impulsive loads, for extended periods of time, to incrementally dislodge or work the slug free. In an even more extreme example, manual intervention may be required, to open up the rotor/concave/feeder system, and manually clear the slug piece by piece. Sometimes in such more extreme instances components of the rotor/concave/feeder system may be forced out of adjustment or damaged by the slug. Obviously, manual removal of a slug can be time-consuming and labor intensive.
Thus, what is sought is a system and method for automatically deslugging the threshing and/or feeder system of an agricultural combine, which overcomes one or more of the shortcomings and limitations set forth above.